The Long Island town of Hempstead has opened a hydrogen fueling station less than 24 hours after San Francisco unveiled three plug-in hybrid (PHEV) fueling stations.

The $2 million Hempstead station, which makes hydrogen on-site using fuel cells, dishes out pure hydrogen, compressed natural gas, and a hydrogen/compressed natural gas blend. New York officials will monitor vehicle performance to determine hydrogen’s viability as a mass-market fuel.

There’s just one problem: pure hydrogen vehicles aren’t yet available to the public. Hempstead plans on purchasing a senior citizen shuttle bus that runs on a blended fuel, but the town’s hydrogen fueling station probably won’t get much use in the near future.

And while PHEV vehicles are already on the road in China, the LA Timesproclaims matter-of-factly that “Hydrogen fuel-cell technology won’t work in cars” due to its high price, low efficiency and lingering safety concerns.

Regardless of popular opinion, New York officials plan on building a network of hydrogen fueling stations across the state, hoping to encourage fuel cell research.